The invention relates to an interface for defining a model.
Products incorporating predetermined patterns may be inspected for the compliance of the patterns with some standard. Examples include ball grid array devices, micro ball grid arrays, flip chips, and chip-scale packages (together called "BGAs"). BGAs share a common feature in that the contacts on the device are metallic balls that are mounted on one side of the device for forming electrical connections between the package's integrated circuit and a printed circuit board.
Similar inspections are done on other types of products (e.g., pill blister packs and candy sampler boxes).
An automated inspection system requires a computer-readable description of the standard (e.g., a model pattern) against which the system can compare the products to be inspected. At present, an operator creates the description by altering the contents of a text file that describes the standard in text, or by issuing commands to the inspection system via a command-line interface. However, altering text files or issuing commands via a command line interface to create a computer readable description of the standard is neither intuitive, easy, or quick.